Zeus is 5 months old and his ears are still floppy, occasionally one or both will stand briefly, but then flop back over, they have been all over the place, straight down, both pointing the same direction to the or even both pointing straight forward, for the most part they point out to the side in opposite directions, like the picture below. I have had several people tell me I need to "do something" with them before it's too late, Zeus is a much loved family pet, not a show dog and it won't matter to us how his ears look, but just thought I'd ask for some input on if I need to tape them, do his ears need to be up, for health reasons?

Floppy/erect ears have nothing to do with the health of the German Shepherd.
If you want his ears to go up, you should start taping/gluing his ears now.
Just my personal opinion.

martemchik

05-27-2014 05:47 PM

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An upright ear is healthier...so I'd tape if I were you. You might be able to go back to the breeder and have them do it, many breeders know when they have "softer ears" and have had plenty of practice taping puppy ears for their potential show dogs.

An upright ear tends to dry out faster, and it prevents yeast and other infections. They tend to stay cleaner as well.